Clone Disease
by Rivan Warrioress
Summary: While on Loki's ship Mini Jack tries to disguise his deteriorating condition. Drabble


Jack watched the rest of his team…and himself (the older version of himself)… interrogate the little grey bastard who had done this to him. Or rather, done something to the original him and had therefore created the him that was watching.

It was highly confusing. Jack winced as his head throbbed, the persistent headache he'd had for a few hours picking up in intensity. He stayed silent though, knowing that it was highly unlikely that the bastard had any aspirin lying around.

Of course, Jack figured that while the headache might be innocent enough, the product of too much thinking (he'd told Carter it was bad for you) it was more likely that it was a symptom of his imminent death because the stupid little grey bastard hadn't figured out how to sustain the life of a clone, leaving Jack, younger Jack anyway, looking at a severely reduced life span.

So, younger Jack sort of drifted to the background as he watched the four adult members of the team deal with the rogue Asgard scientist, leaning against one of the control pedestals for the beaming device, struggling to fight through the throbbing in his head, hoping to god that none of the others would notice and raise the alarm. Even though he had the same memories as the original Jack O'Neill, all forty plus years of them, he looked like a kid, and though they tried to hide it, they saw him as one too. Knowing the team as well as he did, Jack knew it would hurt them to see him in pain, especially when he looked as young as he did, so he endeavoured to hide the pain instead.

Naturally, this was proving to be difficult, even for an expert like him, as the headache was rapidly getting worse, now feeling like he was repetitively getting hammered in the head with a shovel, an was now being accompanied by a throbbing pain all over the rest of the body. Remaining standing was quickly becoming a major issue for him, and Jack could feel his legs shaking with the effort of remaining upright.

Still, at least none of the others appeared to be noticing. Carter was currently absorbed in some form of computer, while the older version of Jack, Teal'c and Daniel were interrogating their captive. He found it amusing, seeing the normally peaceful Daniel glaring at the Asgard like that, being as intimidating as the Archaeologist could.

Jack tightened his grip on the column he was leaning against, as his knees buckled under his weight. Despite the fact that these knees hadn't been permanently damaged, Jack knew that he didn't have long before they gave out on him completely.

The edge of Jack's vision chose that moment to begin to grey, and it was like spider webs began to crisscross his vision, as he began to succumb to the welcoming embrace of unconsciousness. Even holding his head up began to be a struggle. Jack let out a shaky breath and a slight moan game out of his mouth at the same time. It was loud enough to catch the attention of the rest of the team, who all spun around towards him.

Jack, however, barely saw the concern on their faces, before his vision went black and he dropped to the ground heavily. His head hitting the ground with a thud, a cut on his forehead weeping a thin trail of blood where he'd hit his head on the pedestal on his way down.

STARGATE SG1

The first thing Jack was aware of after everything went black was the soft, gently, persistent beeping. He inwardly frowned, not having remembered putting his alarm on. Then it clicked. It wasn't an alarm, it was a heart monitor. He could feel the distinctive feel of hospital grade blankets under his hand and he could smell the disinfectant in the air. He was obviously in the infirmary at the SGC. Jack groaned, struggling to open his eyes. Once his vision cleared, he took in Janet and Sam at his bedside…and the original, older version of himself.

"Hey, mini-me, how are you going?" The older Jack O'Neill asked. Jack frowned.

"Like I just got run over by the Stargate,"

"Well, that's understandable," Sam reasoned.

"You have been quite sick, after all," Janet added. Jack frowned, things coming back to him.

"Obviously Thor was able to cure me."

"Yeah, the little grey man came through and save your butt." Jack Senior smiled, ruffling the younger Jack's hair gently.

"Of course, you would have recovered sooner had you not split your head open," Janet scolded. Jack winced, raising his hand, and feeling the bandage on his forehead.

Jack shifted in the bed, slightly embarrassed, as Teal'c and Daniel walked in.

"You are much lighter than your older counterpart, Jack O'Neill," Teal'c observed. Older Jack glared at him.

"I'll have you know that it's all muscle." He defended

Jack let out a chuckle from where he lay in the bed. He felt fine; obviously the final affects of the cloning process had ended during his unconsciousness.

"So," he said casually, "When do I get to leave? I can't miss much school, you know." He said with a smirk on his face.

**A.N. I just watched the episode of Stargate SG1 with Mini Jack (what a cutie) and was inspired to write this short piece. I hope you've enjoyed it, and that it is not too confusing with the two Jacks. **


End file.
